A campaign to save Salford magistrates courts from closure has failed. The government has announced the Bexley Square building will shut under its budget cuts.

The plan to close it was condemned earlier this year by a union leader as an ‘outrageous attack on the citizens of Salford and our justice system’.

But yesterday in the House Of Commons parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry Of Justice, Jonathan Djanogly, justified its closure by saying it was only ‘1,000 paces’ from the modern Manchester magistrates court.

Rochdale magistrates court will also close with cases being transferred to Bury.

The ageing Salford landmark was to be replaced by a new £20m justice centre in Eccles.

But those plans were shelved this year by the then justice secretary Jack Straw because of the economic climate. The Grade II-listed courts are in urgent need of modernisation. Parts of the building, formerly Salford Town Hall, date from 1825.

A survey established that £4m would have to be spent over the next three years on repairs and maintenance. A delegation of senior councillors and Salford and Eccles MP Hazel Blears had met the minister to lobby for it to be saved.

Ms Blears said: "We have had a court in Salford for 1,000 years. It has taken this new government six months to bring that to an end. In the past Lord Justice Goldring, the most senior presiding judge in England and Wales, said it should be spared.

"I question whether Manchester has the capacity in terms of custody accommodation to take Salford’s cases. We wanted to keep Salford magistrates open until the financial situation improved and the new court in Eccles, in the centre of the borough could then be built."

Coun David Lancaster, deputy leader of Salford council, said: "I am extremely disappointed that the government has decided to close Salford magistrates court. This is a short-sighted view and is neither the most cost effective option, nor one which will continue to see justice administered locally for Salford people.

"The council, alongside City of Salford Bench, Salford’s Judicial Leadership and Greater Manchester Probation Trust, put forward strong and pragmatic solutions to keep the court at Bexley Square. These plans included the council being committed to covering any costs involved.

"Salford has had a court service that has been at the forefront of many innovative practices in the administration of justice, pioneering community justice and being among the first to implement drug and alcohol courts, domestic violence courts and review courts. We are now exploring the options open to us so that this decision can be challenged."

Coun Norman Owen, leader of Salford’s Lib Dems, said: "Salford council should have moved at a pace to get the new justice system in Eccles built years ago – that is where the failure was."

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk said: "To say I am disappointed is an understatement. Rochdale magistrates has a 80 per cent utilization rate – one of the highest in Greater Manchester. The magistrates do a fantastic job and the staff are brilliant. The government seem to be saying ‘you are doing a great job, but we are going to shut you anyway’.

"One criteria for closure is that an alternative court can be reached within an hour on public transport. How on earth do they expect people living in Littleborough and Milnrow to get to Bury by public transport in an hour? This decision really is a dog's dinner."